oil sands

Cultural  

1. Surface deposits of tarry sand that contain large quantities of petroleum.

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The major deposits of oil sands in North America are in the western United States and northern Canada.

Extracting the oil from these sands is difficult and expensive.

Example Sentences

As shipments from Mexico and Venezuela into the U.S. declined, refiners turned to Canada, which has ramped up heavy crude production from its oil sands.

From The Wall Street Journal

Venezuela holds the largest proved oil reserves in the world, and the majority is heavy oil that has similar refining characteristics to Canadian oil sands output.

From The Wall Street Journal

Venezuelan crude competes most directly with Canadian oil sands barrels on quality, refinery fit, and end market.

From Barron's

Much of that volume is heavy oil sands crude flowing primarily to the U.S.

From Barron's

For now, the U.S. remains the overwhelmingly dominant destination for Canadian oil sands production.

From Barron's